Two of Pride's Dominant Strains
From Isaiah 2 – 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come down upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up – and it shall be brought low – 13 upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon the oaks of Bashan; 14 Upon all the high among, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15 Upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; Upon all ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops.
"A state is not a mere aggregate of persons," defines Aristotle in Politics, "but a union of them sufficing for the purposes of life." By analogy, he reminds us that cities, states, and civilizations are not merely a collection of people who happen to live in the same place. Individuals impact each other such that he often makes the point that states function as living things. Good character in individuals can strengthen the unity of the state. A dissipated character in the same individuals weakens the body politic dreadfully.
The Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet Isaiah would have no difficulty with this either as a figurative analogy or clear-eyed analysis. Isaiah 1 already related that when leaders are preoccupied with squeezing gain from their subjects or indulging themselves, the state is in trouble.
As we consider Isaiah 2:15 and 16, the rot of fecklessness, at least figurative and sometimes literal even rendered useless the tools of the state. Idols within begat weakness without This weakness is compounded as surely as interest owed by a people profligate in their finances.
Looking thus inward at our varying spiritual maladies, Charles Spurgeon points out in his sermon "The Snare and the Fowler," He would be an unwise fowler who should go to work with the same machinery to catch the lark that flies on high as the duck that swims along the stream. The fowler is wiser than that: he adapts his snare to the condition of the bird which he desires to take. Satan the fowler does just the same."
So it is where Satan crafts different enticements for the downfall of different ages, different societies, and different individuals, that the Spirit and the Word rallies specifically crafted defenses with different phrases and images. Isaiah 2:15 and 16 fly the twin standard with such a beautifully paired, all-encompassing contrast. Isaiah's inspired words, by pointing us to the works of states, can also point us to two aspects of pride which God can faithfully, doggedly bring down.
Spurgeon, albeit explaining from a different passage in "The Snare and the Fowler" nevertheless besieges one design of pride as artfully as Isaiah does. Some men, beholding more or less accurately spiritual danger without, enclose themselves in a defensive kind of pride.
Remaining in their seemingly impressive fortress and high tower, they in their sense of their own strength will not be moved. In this case, diagnoses Spurgeon, "The man is naturally a melancholy man, full of solitude." Extrapolating, Spurgeon continues, "Satan gets him, if he can, to wrap himself up in a solitary dignity, to say, 'I am holy.' 'Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men are.'
Thus satisfied in our own self-contained righteousness as an engineer might think himself safe in his own fort, we continue to recycle our own air, and our own disease. Messengers the Lord might send to confront and correct us, we would, if we could, keep out. They will, we reason not entirely inaccurately, expose us to other errors. In pride, we would rather keep company with the devil we've got.
As the introvert and the intellectual, we can be like those Jesus criticized as children who stand apart whether the game is a wedding or funeral. Anything new requiring openness or vulnerability, we are not buying. We will keep the wineskins of our systems of self-protection until they crack rather than consider the possibility that Christ, Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, might be expressing different aspects of His glory than those to which we have become over-accustomed.
And yet, those ever-acquisitive for new ideas, expressions, and affirmations are in just as much danger. They don't survive the scrutiny that passes from Isaiah 2:15's critique of the fortress mentality to the next verse's warning against the pride that fills the sails of the ships of Tarshish. Beholden to this sort of pride, we may all too readily give up tried and true beliefs to digest the new simply because it is new.
These are those Jesus lambastes for crossing oceans to make disciples who are more sons of Hell than they are. Staying at home judiciously in the context of the same relationships might provide them fixed markers by which to distinguish the backsliding of their own character, or confronting friends brave enough to help them see it. By always seeking new settings, though, they will perpetually mistake the social graces of politeness and cursory curiosity for affirmation that all is well within.
In fact, just as those sturdy ships of Tarshish go to far shores with Jonahs aboard to grow rich in trade, so those who sail from setting to setting and chapter to chapter at pride's behest are in fact seeking the same denominations of affirmation rather than periodically examining the worth of their goals. The scenery changes, certainly, but the script of the internal scold never does. Maybe the next cache of gold or flood of followers will be enough.
Whereas the man stationary in the fortress of habit, often religious habit, may continue to add legalistic abutments to add to his sense of security, the spiritual sailor who thinks himself braver and more adventurous simply acquires currency he thinks will protect him against a day of reckoning. He is like Phineas Fogg in Jules Vern's Around the World in 80 Days. He travels, physically, or intellectually, or from channel to channel, to prove that he can. But as Fogg keeps at his card game wherever his travels take him, the relevant scenery never really changes.
The Lord's mercy, then, is to bring down whatever structures in which we trust, flimsy when compared to Himself. It is He Who is truly high and lofty. It is He Who inspires the wisest engineering, and then exceeds any security it can provide. It is He Who directs or stalls the ship, as Jonah can attest, and it is He Who continues to reveal Himself either in the same tiny portion of the Heavens we look at every night or in His capacity to make Himself known in any land into which we venture.
"A state is not a mere aggregate of persons," defines Aristotle in Politics, "but a union of them sufficing for the purposes of life." By analogy, he reminds us that cities, states, and civilizations are not merely a collection of people who happen to live in the same place. Individuals impact each other such that he often makes the point that states function as living things. Good character in individuals can strengthen the unity of the state. A dissipated character in the same individuals weakens the body politic dreadfully.
The Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet Isaiah would have no difficulty with this either as a figurative analogy or clear-eyed analysis. Isaiah 1 already related that when leaders are preoccupied with squeezing gain from their subjects or indulging themselves, the state is in trouble.
As we consider Isaiah 2:15 and 16, the rot of fecklessness, at least figurative and sometimes literal even rendered useless the tools of the state. Idols within begat weakness without This weakness is compounded as surely as interest owed by a people profligate in their finances.
Looking thus inward at our varying spiritual maladies, Charles Spurgeon points out in his sermon "The Snare and the Fowler," He would be an unwise fowler who should go to work with the same machinery to catch the lark that flies on high as the duck that swims along the stream. The fowler is wiser than that: he adapts his snare to the condition of the bird which he desires to take. Satan the fowler does just the same."
So it is where Satan crafts different enticements for the downfall of different ages, different societies, and different individuals, that the Spirit and the Word rallies specifically crafted defenses with different phrases and images. Isaiah 2:15 and 16 fly the twin standard with such a beautifully paired, all-encompassing contrast. Isaiah's inspired words, by pointing us to the works of states, can also point us to two aspects of pride which God can faithfully, doggedly bring down.
Spurgeon, albeit explaining from a different passage in "The Snare and the Fowler" nevertheless besieges one design of pride as artfully as Isaiah does. Some men, beholding more or less accurately spiritual danger without, enclose themselves in a defensive kind of pride.
Remaining in their seemingly impressive fortress and high tower, they in their sense of their own strength will not be moved. In this case, diagnoses Spurgeon, "The man is naturally a melancholy man, full of solitude." Extrapolating, Spurgeon continues, "Satan gets him, if he can, to wrap himself up in a solitary dignity, to say, 'I am holy.' 'Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men are.'
Thus satisfied in our own self-contained righteousness as an engineer might think himself safe in his own fort, we continue to recycle our own air, and our own disease. Messengers the Lord might send to confront and correct us, we would, if we could, keep out. They will, we reason not entirely inaccurately, expose us to other errors. In pride, we would rather keep company with the devil we've got.
As the introvert and the intellectual, we can be like those Jesus criticized as children who stand apart whether the game is a wedding or funeral. Anything new requiring openness or vulnerability, we are not buying. We will keep the wineskins of our systems of self-protection until they crack rather than consider the possibility that Christ, Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, might be expressing different aspects of His glory than those to which we have become over-accustomed.
And yet, those ever-acquisitive for new ideas, expressions, and affirmations are in just as much danger. They don't survive the scrutiny that passes from Isaiah 2:15's critique of the fortress mentality to the next verse's warning against the pride that fills the sails of the ships of Tarshish. Beholden to this sort of pride, we may all too readily give up tried and true beliefs to digest the new simply because it is new.
These are those Jesus lambastes for crossing oceans to make disciples who are more sons of Hell than they are. Staying at home judiciously in the context of the same relationships might provide them fixed markers by which to distinguish the backsliding of their own character, or confronting friends brave enough to help them see it. By always seeking new settings, though, they will perpetually mistake the social graces of politeness and cursory curiosity for affirmation that all is well within.
In fact, just as those sturdy ships of Tarshish go to far shores with Jonahs aboard to grow rich in trade, so those who sail from setting to setting and chapter to chapter at pride's behest are in fact seeking the same denominations of affirmation rather than periodically examining the worth of their goals. The scenery changes, certainly, but the script of the internal scold never does. Maybe the next cache of gold or flood of followers will be enough.
Whereas the man stationary in the fortress of habit, often religious habit, may continue to add legalistic abutments to add to his sense of security, the spiritual sailor who thinks himself braver and more adventurous simply acquires currency he thinks will protect him against a day of reckoning. He is like Phineas Fogg in Jules Vern's Around the World in 80 Days. He travels, physically, or intellectually, or from channel to channel, to prove that he can. But as Fogg keeps at his card game wherever his travels take him, the relevant scenery never really changes.
The Lord's mercy, then, is to bring down whatever structures in which we trust, flimsy when compared to Himself. It is He Who is truly high and lofty. It is He Who inspires the wisest engineering, and then exceeds any security it can provide. It is He Who directs or stalls the ship, as Jonah can attest, and it is He Who continues to reveal Himself either in the same tiny portion of the Heavens we look at every night or in His capacity to make Himself known in any land into which we venture.
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